Star Wars: Offspring
by jdflyerguy
Summary: In the wake of the bombardment of Kashyyyk, in the aftermath of the Second Galactic Civil War, a Jedi, a wookie, a former soldier, and their offspring are drawn into a life and death struggle. The diverse handful of beings must use their differing abilities to defeat a savage enemy and rescue the ones they love. A word of advice, don't step in between a wookie and her young.
1. A long time ago

40 ABY – Wasska, in the Kashyyyk System

For my little princess


	2. Chapter 1 - The Enemy

The Kashyyyk system. Wasska. A moon orbiting the planet Trandosha. A terrestrial moon with a breathable atmosphere, its surface is a mixing bowl of brown earth and vast green forests. Unlike the monolithic Worshyr trees of Kashyyyk, the plant life of Wasska grows more angular and random. Trees shoot up initially and then branch out at angles intertwining with their neighbors and forming vast canopies that stretch out for miles and could in some places, block out the sun.

The native simian species use these trees to build their homes and live off their fruit. Deep in the recesses of the arbor system, there are other dwellings, built into the trees by sentient beings that were brought to the forest not so much as guests, but as live targets for sport hunting. Kidnapped younglings of every type of species that could or could not fight were transported here by Trandoshan slavers and released with a day's head start into the forests. They were hunted to the death, pursued by bands of blood lusting Trandoshans or paying aristocrats.

The Trandoshan culture had developed a 'coming of age' ritual where a youngling could pass to adulthood by making a kill in the forests. But they had to hunt a reputable species like Devaronian males, Gran, or Weequay. During Trandosha's checkered history, Jedi Padawans were abducted to fill this need. One would be revered if he was lucky enough to capture a Jedi apprentice or a Knight.

But no sentient species was more convenient and readily available than the native, in-system being know as the Wookie. Usually over two meters tall and powerful, they were hunted for their rich furry pelts and because of their size and potential ferocity, earning a reputation as a wookie slayer was compensation enough. Aside from bragging rights, the Trandoshan's goddess, The Scorekeeper, would grant a victorious hunter extravagant jagannath points, securing them a comfortable afterlife. Needless to say, the Trandoshan culture became internally competitive, and dangerous to the rest of the galaxy.

On one of Wasska's loosely paved dirt paths, a caravan of sorts traveled. A Dewback mounted by two Tradoshans strode at a slow pace on the road; in front, Syysskryl, the leader of the group, his son, Kyssylyk on the mount behind him. Flanked by two threatening Trandoshan body guards on foot, the father and son team acted more like royalty on a victory procession through the streets of adoring fans. Behind them a set of twin Dewbacks, bigger than theirs, towing two joined wooden containers on wheels. The wooden containers were massive, two meters high, twice as long and three times as deep. The chains and leather straps were creaking and straining with every step. The wheels creaked and wobbled. Something inside them groaned.

"Are you ready Ssson?" the elder said in Doshan, in a screeching, reptilian, slobbering wet hiss.

"Father, I have been ready for monthsss for my hunt. All we needed wasss the Wookieeesss." Kyssylyk's voice was higher pitched but no less unnerving. Kyssylyk was coming of age and the primal urge to prove his adulthood through bloodshed was making him impatient. His heavy repeater was at the ready, but in his cold reptilian heart he yearned for a hands-on kill, claws and teeth buried deep in the flesh of the hunted, a twisting of the neck vertebrae, the breaking of … _yesss_. His heart raced, his yellow eyes twitched

Syysskryl could feel his son's anxiety and understood. He urged him to be patient. Age and experience taught him that the hunt could be just as deadly to the hunter as the prey. He had his own anxiety about losing his son to the violence of a Wookie. One second of inattention, one moment of weakness, and it would be over. It would be a great loss. He buried the emotion. Rationality took over. His heart was racing too.

"You will get a head ssstart, but don't take too long, Wookie peltsss make good trophiesss for all of usss. I am hungry for a hunt asss well." Syysskryl nearly salivated at the idea. Capturing the Wookies was only half the thrill of the hunt. When you used tranq-darts to sedate the target first, it was just a matter of heavy lifting and restraints. "But we will need to wait until the tranq-dartsss wear off. More pointsss." The body guards joined Syysskryl in a slurpy, sickening laugh. The Scorekeeper would be pleased tonight, well pleased.


	3. Chapter 2 - Jace Diran and Company

_This was a fine mess_, Jace Diran thought to himself, _why are you on the hunting grounds of Wasska_? Since General Solo, not the legendary Han Solo, but his power hungry son, had let loose turbo laser fire on Kashyyyk, setting it's forests aflame, Jace had been volunteering his assistance to the wookies. The second Galactic Civil War laid a large continental chunk of Kashyyyk's forests to waste and killed thousands of innocent Wookies and robbed millions of other indigenous life forms of their homes. As a former Jedi knight, he was still known among the Wookie people as a reliable protector and friend, so when he asked, he was allowed to help.

Four years ago in 36 ABY, Jace stood in line at the Jedi Conclave on Ossus. Grand Master Skywalker had called the Jedi together and laid down an ultimatum: to commit totally as a Jedi with all your time and energy or respectfully step down. It was a decision he and Ellevia had discussed many times in private, but the sudden announcement by the Grand Master cemented the notion for both of them. Their three children need a more solid family experience to keep them on the straight and narrow. The fall of Jacen Solo, or Darth Caedus made them both think, _What do our kids need most_ … m_ore adventure, or more_ _us_?

Then, Samyan, his middle son, and the only non-force sensitive in the family, unexpectedly ran away, the two started questioning their parenting priorities. His oldest son, Kibol, was star struck and in love with being a Jedi. He was given the decision to make on his own. He had chosen to stay in the Order. The youngest, Lucas, was with his mother trying to track down Samyan. Ellevia could have gone on the search by herself, her position as an alternate Galactic Senate representative afforded her some interplanetary contacts, but she wanted to keep an eye on her youngest boy. Lucas was restless and kicking against the restraints of the Order already, sometimes refusing to train with his lightsaber. What youngling didn't want to use a light saber? His teen years would be a challenge.

As if things weren't complicated enough, three years ago, Ellevia gave birth to their fourth child. Leelah was his only girl, sweet, and little. There was no Force manifestations from his daughter per se, but her force presence was a bright beacon glowing with trust and innocence. She had light brown curly hair growing out in every direction, only tamable with elastic bands and ties. She had a small, stiff wiry body, strong, he felt, for a human her age, but doesn't every father find special things in his children to hold with pride? To Jace, Leelah was toddler perfection, a joy to be around. As the youngest of three bigger brothers, she was fearless and Ellevia insisted that she has her father's temper … whatever that means.

Leelah demonstrated what her dad could only call "the eyes of understanding". She seemed to comprehend what people were talking about even though her speech was cute, clipped and toddlerish at best. Perhaps she was an Empath, comprehending emotion and would one day be able to soothe and heal minds. At times, she would just stare at you with those big brown eyes and tilt her head, almost like she were taking notes on her mental note pad. Maybe she would have a holographic and audiographic memory like Winter Celchu, recalling every three dimensional detail of every place she's been and remembering every word spoken in front of her.

Jace was considered a Visionary, aside from telekinesis and enhanced physical capabilities common to most Jedi, he would be overcome by the force at times, it would give him visions of future events, warnings even. Some seemed figurative and were open to interpretation. Others actually came true, and had to be taken literal. Telling the difference was the trick.

When he'd put together his first lightsaber, it activated as a golden yellow spear of light, marking him and his destiny in the force. He could hold his own in combat, but sometimes when one of his visions would come on him, he was rendered useless, incapacitated. In his mind, being transported to a far away planet, or to a time in the future, he could not sense or fight in the present. He had nearly been killed several times. It was to the point that he had Brine Deegs, his long time Duros friend pilot the Perseverance for him whenever they traveled. And now they were on Kashyyyk.

Jace had volunteered to care for Leelah during his wife's searches, thinking that he'd only be called on for communications, or to help fight the fire somehow, or merely for lightweight security details. But no. Trandoshans had to go off and exploit the forest fire tragedy by kidnapping groups of Wookies. This time, the slavers had made away with four adolescent Wookies at one time.

The Wookie liaison assigned to him was an old friend, a female Wookie named Huhunna. Jace was with her when she'd received the news that her own son, Mawrowyr, had been kidnapped. He'd been trying his hand at hunting in the forest with some friends from his tribe in the lower levels of the forest. Huhunna became unhinged. Jace tried to calm her down with the Force, but a Wookie's rage was almost supernatural, especially if it came from a mother that was kept from her young. All he could do was offer to help track down the culprits and rescue her son.

Planetary security, though primitive, was able to track the escape vector of the slaver ship as it exited the atmosphere. It lead to the infamous moon Wasska, known for slaver hunts and murder. We know our time was short, so not thinking it all the way through Jace, Brine, his pilot friend, and Huhunna took off for Wasska in the Perseverance with Leelah in tow. By the Force they were lucky enough to witness the atmospheric entry of the slaver ship and arrive unannounced in the same grid as the outlaws.

_Trandoshans ... _he thought_, this'll be fun_. Jace had gone head to head with a Trandoshan named Gizzk. Gizzk was caught scouting for an outlaw slaver organization on the planed Shedu Maad in the Hapes Cluster. He was the only Trandoshan in the whole system and he was able to overpower thirteen security operators before nearly killing Jace himself. Jace had used the force to launch his lightsaber hilt across the room, striking him in the eye, temporarily incapacitating him.

"Don't worry, that'll grow back…" was the heroic one liner he'd shot out as he bound him to a fixture and left with a freight speeder full of innocents. Jace Diran, in the present, laughed to himself. He then sobered his thinking though, realizing that the coming confrontation would not be as easy.

So far, the hardest part had been convincing Huhunna to stay in the ship with Leelah while Jace and Brine went to scout the situation. The two had picked their way through the bushy forest and noticed some wrecked ground speeders, skeletons of various species littering the forest floor, and several winding roads cutting through the forests. "Sir, my scanner's readin' several life forms coming up a path from the East, two clicks up." Brine whispered from three meters ahead.

"Transpose it on the map." Diran ran up next to him. The display superimposed the moving blips on top of an overhead satellite view of the twisting veins of roads and paths running through the forest. "They're close." Sadly, numbers were indistinguishable, the blips looked like a gooey microorganism oozing along the path. "We need a solution quick."


	4. Chapter 3 - The Plan

On the bridge of the Perseverence, Huhunna sat behind the navigator seat. Fidgeting, agitated, her light brown fur ruffled and standing on end in some places. How could she let the man Jace Diran convince her to watch his youngling and stay out of the battle when her offspring was in danger. These Jedi were overconfident. But if she was honest, she'd have to admit the fact that she was the best pilot among the three and her rage and anger would probably cause her to misstep and ruin the element of surprise.

Amidst her fuming, she felt the tugging of little hands on the fur of her leg. She looked down to see Leelah looking back up, a wide playful grin on her little face. "Doggie, Nuuna. Doggie Nuuna." Hununna stood, let out a huge Wookie sigh and barked out a short grunt, gesturing with her head. Leelah gigged and grinned bigger, the coast was clear. The little girl started the two meter climb up. Gripping handfuls of fur at a time the toddler climbed up the back of the Wookie until she hooked her legs around her neck and sat on Huhunna's shoulders. It was a ritual she'd gotten used to over the past few months being with the humans and their Duros friend. The Wookie sat down, giving Leelah more room to bounce and play on her shoulders, occasionally enduring a painful tug on her fur.

There was a ping on the navigator's console. Jace Diran's voice followed. "Huhunna, I have a large grouping of life forms several meters away from our position. It looks like they're too clumped together to get an accurate head count. Fire up Peedee-three and send him up overhead." PD-3 was a semi automated drone droid that Diran used for surveillance and assault. The remote pilot could control the drone and control its suspended blaster mounts.

Huhunna was curious what Diran's plan was and grunted out an inquiry.

"Well, here's what we're gonna do …" he couldn't finish the sentence. His daughter had recognized his voice even distorted and crackled by low band frequency noise.

"Dadeee!" Leelah piped in, wiggling and bouncing at the sound of his voice. If she was smiling earlier, she was reflecting sunlight now.

"Hi sweetie, Daddy's just playing with some friends…" she stopped wiggling. "Anyways I'm going to distract them, get the caravan to stop. Brine's going to start picking them off from the underbrush, make them panick. You use Peedee's turrets to cause more confusion from up above. I'll break out the lightsaber, lizard parts will fly everywhere…"

"Daddeee … fight? Daddee … fight?" Her eyes seemed to double in size, she balled both fists and held them close to her body. Huhunna snored the Wookie version of a giggle.

"No baby, we're rescuing some friends." His voice changed to the patronizing, artificial tone adult use when they are lying to their kids. He quickly recovered his intensity. "And so … I'm going to need the five pack of stim-syringes out of the med bay after everyone is … down. After the coast is clear, I need you to break into the wooden crates and inject Mawrowyr and the rest of the captives and get everyone back to the _Perseverance_."

Huhunna made another inquiring growl.

"I don't know, Wookie-smash it or something, I think it's just wood."

Huhunna argued with him insinuating that it was ridiculous to imprison a wooking in a wooden cell.

"That's why they sedate them so they can't smash through it, I don't even think they use manacles on them."

Huhunna struck the console and roared. The thought of her son so helpless and vulnerable made her angry. She started a series of enraged roars and grunts.

"Easy, easy, girl! Easy." He had to control the volume of his voice. Speaking over her he reasoned with the Wookie. "I need you to stay there and pilot the drone, okay … shoot Trandoshans. Once everything is clear you can come down and get your son and his friends but until then we need the cover fire from the drone."

Huhunna grunted once more in resignation and concentrated on the view screen. In minutes, she had the drone sky high over their location. The overhead count was seven. She moved her large Wookie paws across the control board with fluency and accuracy one would think uncommon for such a large and primitive looking creature. She uplinked the images to Brine's hand held scanner.

Out in the trees, a green light on Brine's scanner blinked and a real-time video feed overlaid the map. "Looks like seven of them, sir. The scanner must have gotten muddled by the life forms … err… Wookies in the crates. I've got two ridin' a dewback, two on either side guardin' 'em. There's two more coverin' both sides of the crates and one bringin' up the rear coverin' their tail." He looked up at Jace.

"Outgunned." Jace stated with eyebrow raised

"Outnumbered." Brine answered

"Unprepared." The human smiled.

"Underestimated." His Duros friend retured.

"Let's do it." They said in unison, bumping forearms. Brine slung his refurbished DXR-6 Disruptor rifle over his shoulder and sprinted across the dirt path and found cover in the trees. His grey-green skin blended in with the shadows of the desaturated tree bark. He'd have to be invisible but at the same time be able to survey the whole field of conflict. He had an advantage over his human associate, the Duros species didn't exude one tenth the natural oils and sweat that humans did. For that reason, the Trandoshans and their heightened sense of smell would not detect him in the trees amongst the other natural life of the forest.

Since humans could be smelled from a quarter meter away, it would be Jace Diran's job to be the distraction. Jace rummaged through some of the wreckage that lay in the forest until he felt a twinge of inspiration.


	5. Chapter 4 - Ambush

From Brine's perch, he had a head-on view of the Trandoshan caravan approaching him. He visually confirmed the numbers. The curved part of the road in front of him would be ideal though for an attack. He was shrouded in the apex of the turn, able to see a great distance down both ends of the road. If he had the rest of his Platoon with him, it would be a merciless kill zone. But it was just him and his Jedi friend and the drone buzzing overhead, inaudible to the human ear.

Jace gathered what would amount to a bad holodrama costume. He'd been watching some history holo presentation on some Jedi that survived the great purge. He'd try the Dass Jennir look. He'd look curious enough to stop an Imperial war procession. He reached out with the force and jarred the scuttled speeder from its dusty grave.

Huhunna gazed intently at the view screen through the electronic eyes of PD-3. She wished this thing could detect vital signs or heat signatures. Not knowing the condition of her offspring was troubling her and the haughty manner the enemy was strutting down the dirt road aggravated her to no end. How could she let her child … the thought was interrupted but a sudden realization. She didn't know where Leelah was. The child had dismounted off of her shoulder … or had she been thrown off when she was raging? She put PD-3 on auto mode and bounded out of the bridge in a panicked search.

Syysskryl and his men pulled around the bend with their prizes in tow. They were neither jubilant nor celebratory but anxious. Anxious for the hunt, anxious for the kill, anxious for … what was that smell?

"Father, up ahead." Kyssylyk's arm sprang up and pointed ahead.

As the procession rounded the curve, there was a human sitting on the side of the road, cross legged in a meditative pose, hands pressed together in front of a bowed head. He was wearing a pointed disc of a hat that was as wide as his shoulders. The covering was strapped to his head with a chin strap and obscured the view of his eyes. He had long, dirty robes that hid his body, but what was visible was covered in grease and grime. An old looking and defunct speeder lay behind him, obviously gutted as if he'd been trying to fix it. Syysskryl lifted his right hand in a fist and stopped the procession, yet still unsure how to address the strange being before them.

She wasn't anywhere. Huhunna began to panic. She couldn't smell her. Leelah was gone. On a desperate whim, she burst through the hatch into the med bay. Not here either, but the med fridge was hanging wide open. A quick look froze her Wookie blood in her veins. The stim-syringe pack was gone.

She jumped back into the navigator's seat and took control of the drone again. Huhunna cranked the control stick and brought the drone's cameras back towards the ship. She frantically scanned the holes in the forest canopy for movement. The man Jace Diran's offspring was trouble, wild unpredictable trouble.

She saw a streak, a blur really, and then a rustling of leaves, birds lifting off into flight. The series of events seemed to be making their way towards the conflict zone.

Jace Stood up in such a rapid manner that everyone pulled out and aimed a weapon of some kind at him. With arms stretched out to his sides he walked towards the dewback with long dramatic strides. He deepened his voice and tried to sound mystical. "Friends. I knew you would come." He stepped forward. "Do you speak basic?"

Syysskryl hacked and spit out a Trandoshan curse and hissed "Of coursssse we ssspeak your dull language, human. Why are you on our moon, interrupting our travelssss?" The two guards began to move to flanking positions, rifles at the ready.

"I have come on a spiritual journey … to find … myself." That sounded stupid, he thought.

"Only humansss lossse themselvesss and cannot find them." Kyssylyk proclaimed as the guards chuckled with him. Perhaps the hunt would start early.

"Friends. I am almost at my destination, but my speeder has broken and I am in need of a hydrospanner and a few spare parts to complete my journey." His eyes scanned

"You better have a good reason for being the only human in our system." Syysskryl's voice became menacing. "I'd say you've found trouble for yourself instead."

Brine was temporarily distracted by the rapid tones coming from his mobile scanner broadcasting in his ear. Every life form detected made a normal tone, like the ones droning away in his ear for the last twenty minutes. When something was rapidly approaching the scanner the tones were higher pitch and more frequent. Something was inbound, quickly. It was right on top of them.

"Any day now." Jace stated out loud partially nodding his head. The Trandoshans looked at one another in confusion. "Yep, any day now."

"What is Ahh-nee Dah-noh?" Syysskryl had an incredulous look on his already puzzled reptilian face. He signaled the rear guards to come forward. They had special blasters fitted with Tranq-darts. They turned and drew near to their new target.

Jace stole a glance down the road and thought he saw a puff of dirt settling just behind the legs of the guard on his side of the road … as if something had just slid underneath the wheeled crates.


	6. Chapter 5 - Doggie

There was a sharp pain in his leg. But he was too drowsy to do anything about it, too weak, to apathetic. The caravan had come to a stop, it would have been an opportunity to escape, to break through the cheap wood construct he was imprisoned in. Mawrowyr should have had the strength to do it, but the sedative seemed to drain all will out of him along with all the energy.

After the small pin-prick of pain in his leg though, his vision became more acute. He could feel the tension returning to his musculature, a surge of adrenaline rose up in him. The throbbing in his head subsided and he felt like jumping in the air and breaking out of his prison. It was as if his mind and his body were separated, unhooked, and all at once someone had reconnected the two. But who?

He lifted his head to a giggling noise in the corner of the wooden cage. There was a familiar human youngling sitting on top of a med box. She was small and wiry, with hair, curly and wild, sticking out in all directions. As he made eye contact, the tiny mouth stretched out into a wide, happy grin. He forced a friendly greeting as quiet as possible.

The little being responded with a laugh and a request. "HnnnHnn. Doggie."

As Jace stood there arms spread out making a fool out of himself, he wondered what was taking Brine so long to start knocking beings down. They had been at a standstill for over a couple minutes now and he was waiting for the fireworks. What more could a sniper ask for?

Just then Huhunna began to bark and scream in his ear piece. She was frantic going on about something. The earpiece kept clipping. The volume became so piercing that he instinctively swiped his ear with his right hand and accidentally disconnected the chin strap holding the thrust distributor to his head. The "hat" fell forward off of his head and clanked on the dusty ground in front of him. The clanking sound seemed to echo in the valley of trees.

Brine scanned the area of the crate cages with his scope. He scanned the trees in the immediate area behind the caravan. There was the left over rustling of leaves and dust settling, but he didn't see anything. The guards began to move forward.

Back in the Perseverance, Huhunna was paralyzed at the images coming to her from PD-3's cameras. She slammed both fists down on the console and hung her head. The human Jace Diran was playing too many games with these predators. He knocked his ear piece out and revealed his face. The Duros was unreachable via com. The Youngling was nowhere to be found but somehow she may be headed to the fight at an unreal speed. For several minutes she was at a loss, unable to think of a course of action.

"Excuse me." Jace Diran bent down to pick up the head covering off the ground and play off the blunder. His short mane of shoulder length black hair fell forward. He was stopped in the midst of the move by a slimy throat-clearing hiss.

The body guard on the far side of the dewback stepped forward. He let his rifle hang down on his side. He glared at Diran with his eye, his one good eye. The other was sewed shut. The lid was concave, discolored. "Sheeeeeduuuu Maaaaaahhd!" The words slithered off of his tongue. Drool hung from his quivering maw. "I know your smell anywhere."

Recognition twisted Diran's stomach in knots. It was Gizzk, the Trandoshan he'd fought on Shedu Maad. He wasn't concerned about one Trandoshan with a revenge motivation, but a vengeful Trandoshan backed up by six others with blasters and tranq-darts presented a problem. Before he let the impossibility of the situation overwhelm him, he instead let calm come over him. He dropped his arms and relaxed his shoulders. He mentally readied himself for action.


	7. Chapter 6 - Breakout

Time slowed. Gizzk drew back and raised his rifle to take a shot at him. Simultaneously, Diran's eye's focused on and assessed the threat possibility from every Trandoshan in his visual range with Force enhanced speed and accuracy. Gizzk, ten o'clock, aggressive, immediate. Dewback one and two, twelve O'clock, anxious but holding back. Guard at one o'clock, apprehensive, confused, nervous but ready to fire. Rear sentry, approaching, unaware, far away. The last two, not visible, out of range, but still a threat. Aggression and animalistic anticipation flooded the area … but there was also this bright and shining optimism and … joy?

His assessment was cut short by the click of Gizzk's trigger. There was an explosion back in the chamber of the flechette rifle sending an expanding spray of projectiles towards Diran. In response, in a microsecond, his eyes estimated the trajectory of the soon approaching spread. He dipped his left shoulder backwards, nearly folding himself in half. The projectiles, aimed for a chest, flew past Diran's face and scattered in the forest behind him. His right hand extended forward, open, palm up. From under the cuff of his sleeve his light saber hilt shot out, grip end first, striking Gizzk in the sensitive nerve cluster of his snout. The lightsaber shot back into Diran's grip as fast as it had shot out. The golden blade ignited in his hand as he recovered from the contorted dodge and assumed a defensive stance.

Gizzk, stunned by the blow was about to fire again. By instinct, he slid the barrel slider back and loaded another round of projectiles in the chamber to fire again. The other bodyguards weapon, a heavy repeater rifle, was about to discharge in response too. Jace Diran lifted his left hand up and swung his saber hand down. Gizzk's weapon leaped out of his grip and arced up and over the tree line out of sight. The saber did not make contact with anything but the gesture called the force to aim the other gunner's weapon to the floor just as he discharged it. The automatic fire projectiles splashed in the dusty ground until Jace called the weapon to his left hand. Three seconds had passed.

Brine heard shots and snapped his scope back to the front of the caravan and frantically searched for a target. Brine cursed himself for getting distracted in the middle of a mission. "Ah, Deegs ya bugger, where's yer head!?"

But what he saw was Jace in a holding his lightsaber in front of him in one hand and an upside down repeater rifle in the other. He focused on the two Trandoshans seated on the dewback. The animal was agitated and starting to buck and rear up. "Ahhh, hold still, would ya."

The rear Trandoshan stopped running, the human with the lightsaber had just disarmed his two fellow guards. He didn't want to get too close so he got on one knee, aimed the tranquilizer riffle at the man and fired. Diran sensed the threat and merely used the force to stagger the now weaponless guard in front of the tranq-dart. With a thunking noise the dart struck the guard in the back below the left shoulder. There was a look of shock and realization as the guard turned and gave an accusatory look to the rear guard and slumped to the ground.

"Aaaagggh!" Brine whispered to himself as the target he had adjusted to ducked to a crouch behind the wooden crates. He heard another cracking noise but the guard in front staggered and went down. "Deegs, ya ain't earnin' yer keep."

He settled back on the two targets on the mount. Both made furtive gestures and drew weapons. "Heh. Ye just bought yourself some hurt."

"Enough!" Syysskryl screeched at full volume, pulling a blaster rifle from a holster in the dewback's saddle. His son hissed loudly too wanting to match the ferocity of his father, pulling twin blaster pistols from his sides.

"He cannot defeat us all! Jedi means many jagannath!" They hissed and screeched in unison, bearing jagged teeth with strings of saliva swinging and spraying in their breath.

That's when the crates exploded.

Wooden planks and metal framing went flying end over end in every direction. There was a high-pitched Wookie roar. The captives broke out of their prison with animalistic ferocity. The Trandoshans had only prepared for docile, apathetic prey. Had the tranquilizer already worn off?

Jace squinted and tried to comprehend what just happened. He was in a conflict but could not take his eyes off of the scene at the rear. On the shoulders of one of the young wookies was a human toddler, one hand gripping a lock of fur from the wookie's neck and the other swinging up in the air. It was his daughter, light brown curly hair that normally extended out in all directions was now blown back in the wind. Her mouth was trapped in a cheek-wide open mouth grin, and she was giggling uncontrollably. Jace had no idea what he was looking at. At least he knew now where the bright innocent force presence was coming from. He assumed it was related to the innocent nature of the captives.

Diran and the Trandoshans all stood with mouths open watching the scene and heads cocked in puzzlement. He and Syysskryl looked at each other, locked eyes, and then both returned to focus back on the confusion.

"What in the force …" Brine lost his volume control this time. Wookies were jumping out of their prison confinement and leaping into the forest. There was the distinct sound of a youngling laughing … it sounded like Leelah.

To the right, the guard with the tranquilizer rifle was temporarily knocked over by the stampeded of wookies, but he'd recovered and stood with weapon aimed at the crowd. Brine laid his crosshairs on the gunner and squeezed the trigger. There was a loud report from his disruptor rifle, a solid beam of orange energy extended from the barrel, and the sniper finally knocked down his first target.

Instantly Jace didn't care anymore about the slavers in front of him, he staggered back a few steps and started to draw the force into himself to explode away from the scene to protect Leelah. As he got ready to run, his vision turned black and the force decided just then to give him a vision.


	8. Chapter 7 - Force Vision

_He opened his eyes. The sky was stuck somewhere between dusk and evening. There were stars in the sky and a moon sliding in slow motion across the pink and purple sheen covering the horizon. There was a battle happening in the atmosphere. Starfighters of various types were streaking in all directions in groups of three of four. Flame streaks with smoke tails were traveling in pairs after them, chasing their targets, and occasionally catching them. Explosions bloomed with bright incendiary colors. White hot debris fell to the ground from suspended, sparkling dust clouds. Streaks of blue and green reached up into the sky, tracking their prey like fingers of energy dancing on the stars._

_He was standing in the middle of a valley littered with felled tree stumps. The ground was scorched black and there was scattered fires randomly dotting the surface. The air smelled of brimstone and burnt flesh. The horizon was miles and miles of forest from one vanishing point to another. Somewhere beyond his view, there mewed the cries of the wounded and the dying._

_On the other side of the valley, he could see silhouettes of warriors gathering together, running, jumping over obstacles. Some were lifting up arms and making taunting gestures. He sensed the hostility and aggression in the force, heroic desperation, selfless sacrifice, and utter hopelessness._

_The crowd across the valley gathered together and shouted. A dozen crimson red lightsaber blades became visible, a dozen more, and then the number doubled again. The crowd began to advance. He patted his waist and his right handed slip holster looking for his weapon. A surge of panic raced up his spine. He suppressed it. He backed up and realized he was up against a wall of a cliff about twice his height. _

_He spun around to climb up it, but before he could, the opposing force poured over the top in to the valley. Robed warriors, Jedi, about half the number of red sabers launched acrobatically over his head and sped forward. After them was a mixed group of beings, in various armor, energy and mêlée weapons in hand. They began to unleash a rainbow of fury, energy bolts of green, blue, yellow flying across the divide toward the dark warriors. _

_Red blades sent the energy bolts upward into the sky, others returned them back toward the senders. The dark army sent a barrage of red laser fire at the advancing army. Jedi weapons ignited and intercepted most of the volley. Personal energy shields sizzled as some of the bolts struck home. There was still a great distance to cover._

_The sky overhead went black with movement, black clad soldiers, regimented and orderly. Row by row, they poured over the wall, firing in unison. Their direction was guided by a soldier brandishing a blue lightsaber. Where his blade pointed, a school of bolts would launch, raining destruction where they landed._

_A handful of white armored warriors flew over the wall. They rode on seats of flames, hovering meters above the ground, strafing randomly. They fought with different types of weapons, poisons, projectile explosives, sonic weapons that paralyzed, wave generator cannons, all mounted on their bodies._

_After several minutes, the two armies collided in the center of the valley. The dark army, ferocious, unified, fighting savagely and sparing none in its path. The red blades lead the other dark beings to their own death. The light army fought with honor. It was a mix of planets and societies joined together against annihilation. He could feel the differing priorities, the mix of agendas, conflict even among them. But the threat of the dark army unified them, petty rivalries were pushed beneath the surface, grudges forgotten, only survival mattered._

_He saw dark warriors with yellow eyes under control against their will. He saw a warrior in black armor and a warrior in white armor fighting back to back, one with a lightsaber and the other with twin blasters. He saw a double-sabered Jedi defending the limp body of a fallen female soldier._

_He became breathless, suffocating on the sights and smells of the battle. Tears ran down his cheeks and cut lines through the soot and dust on his face. His sight blurred slightly and he was overcome by unnamable emotions. Again he suppressed them._

_There appeared luminous force presences being driven about the battlefield on armored beast, healers, soothing the wounds of the injured, being protected by a dozen alien species. The dark army fitted their wounded with painful looking cybernetic implants or strapped proximity explosives to their critically maimed and dead. _

_ The battle teetered towards the dark army's advantage. One by one colored lightsabers blinked out. Flying warriors were knocked out of the sky. The suffering of all the different beings overcame him and made him despair. The colors in the sky melted away to back. There were no stars, just falling embers of debris. The moon was gone. Hope was disappearing, annihilation was coming, he could feel it. _

_Before he gave in to despair, he heard another lightsaber come to life. He heard thunderous roars from behind him. Over the wall cascaded several tribes of wookies, roaring and clawing, bearing teeth. Emerald beads launched from bowcasters and made holes in the opposing army. In the middle of the wave, he saw a woman, young, fit, in the middle of an acrobatic leap over the wall and into the field of battle. She carried a glowing magenta blade, she had curly, shoulder length hair, radiating in all directions, tamed with elastic bands and ties. _

_She was the fury of the light. Waves of force energy rippled out from her presence. The light army parted to make way for the new allies. The wookie phalanx cut into the lines of the dark army. Their eyes were aglow white, with force perception. Their fury was controlled but savage. More waves of dark army warriors descended on them. The battle was even again. Despair shrunk away. Hope returned._

_But then the ground started to shake. The rumble unsettled both armies. Magma cracks weaved lightning bolt patterns in the ground. In the center of the conflict, what appeared to be a mountain rose up slowly, chunks of earth and tree stumps falling away as it ascended. As it rose, it appeared to be the head of a large being. Eyes appeared on the mountain, oversized, yellow, filled with hate. Something like a large mouth appeared and jutted flames and curses from within it. _

_As is ascended out of the churning lava a neck was visible. It was not covered in skin or stone, but bones and internal structures were visible. Transparent arteries and veins pumped liquid flames and hatred up to and from the head. Tree roots, long and winding hung off the head an across its shoulders like organic hair. When the shoulders emerged, they were proportionally small, almost childlike. _

_The head was fed by something darker than the dark side of the force, something otherworldy, something alien. All over the battlefield stones and tree trunks were levitated. Beings were lifted off of the ground involuntarily. None could resist its power. The dark army receded, just as taken aback by the events. The light army scattered, leaving the woman with the magenta blade standing alone in front of the evil manifestation. _

_She took a running start towards the monster. The leap-frogged up piles of debris until she was chin level with it. She took a force enhanced leap through the air and brought her lightsaber in a back handed grip with both hands, aiming it forward above her head. The head's jaw dropped and it lurched forward hungrily and swallowed the woman mid-flight. _

_The battlefield went silent. The air remained still for several minutes. Then the face made an expression of confusion and then anguish. A white light grew within the flaming maw. It became blinding, hot. The head thrashed and rocked back and forth in torment. The increasing white light reached out to everything left standing in the valley. _

_He screamed at the top of his lungs. The battlefield was consumed by the light. He raised his hands to cover his face. His fingertips were burnt off of the bone. Parts of his face peeled off in strips. The pain was unbearable. The world ceased to exist altogether. _

_His scream carried him back through to reality._


	9. Chapter 8 - Jedi Down

Brine ducked and the crackling noise of projectiles scattered through the forest around him. He felt the vibrations of impact in the trunk of the tree he was in. He got a bead on the muzzle flashing near the dewback saddle. He thought he saw some brown green skin exposed just to the left of the weapon. Just when he was about to fire, it disappeared. The shooter was raking back and forth wildly and Brine knew the lizard might get lucky soon.

The undulating knives grazed his robes and broke his skin at one point. He bled underneath his robes. Jace had to use the force to augment his strength to keep the fight up, but he was wearying. His arms were about to give in and his body was drained of energy after his vision. He may have been physically in the present when it happened, but his body lived it hormonally. Every second was a struggle. Only one thought was keeping him alive, he had to get to Leelah.

The strobe like muzzle flash appeared again, panning all directions, firing blindly. Behind the flittering strobe was the silhouette of a burly Trandoshan. Brine half pressed the trigger of the disruptor, letting the capacitor of his weapon charge fully. He aimed and fired. The beam struck the Trandoshan center mass. With full power behind it, the body disintegrated at the molecular level. The disruptor beam superheated every cell, causing a microcombustion chain reaction that could sometimes make everything organic just disappear in a burst of fire, leaving clothing and inorganic accessories behind.

And that's what happened. The body of the Trandoshan disappeared in a flash … only to reveal Syysskryl behind it still holding the repeater. He had used the body of the tranquilized guard as a shield, and Deegs realized that the sustained blast gave away his location in the trees. He might as well have just turned on a glow rod and waved. And on top of it all, it would take a longer time before he could build enough energy in the capacitor to get off another shot.

Syysskryl returned fire where he'd seen the disruptor bloom. The tree Brine was perched in was peppered with flechette ammunition. There was a searing pain in his forearm and neck. He decided he would bail out. Once discovered, your dugout was no longer safe. The branch under him strained under his weight and Brine jumped out of the tree as more rounds frayed the forest to pieces.

His ankle caught a branch on the way down and he cart wheeled one half turn. He reached out and caught another branch with his left hand just before he hit bottom. Felled branches and twigs cracked underneath him as his lower body hit the floor. In pain, he scrambled back up against the trunk of the tree for cover.

Syysskryl saw the movement of the figure trying to evade and then falling out of the tree. He did as his instincts told him, he pressed the advantage. He knew he'd have several seconds before his opponent could fire again. He hissed out a savage screech and scattered off towards the tree line, eyes fixed on the place he'd seen the being fall. He ran ferociously, his heart beat racing and thumping in his head, finger depressing the trigger of the repeater, littering the forest with rifle fire. His raging battle cry and the report of his weapon playing a death march for his prey.

The upward modulating tone of the capacitor rose slow but steadily. Brine held the rifle close to his body like a child. He pressed himself up against the tree with his legs as splinters and forest fragments scattered everywhere. The tone of his scanner was also increasing in frequency and pitch with the incoming threat. He looked on the ground to his right and saw the scanner settled in the foliage. Green dot, his position, the red blip, the fast moving bad guy. That'd have to do. He made a mental calculation and disconnected his scope. He spun away from the repeater fire, around the opposite side of the tree, held the weapon up to his eye, and fired his last shot.

In desperation Jace cried out. He stretched out in the force one last time to sense the crystal in his lightsaber, to locate it, to call it to his hand. He closed his eyes to the terror hanging over him and concentrated. He could feel it. It was there, already on its way, maybe this fight would not be his last. And then suddenly the weight of the monster was there no longer.


	10. Chapter 9 - One on One

He thought he saw the Trandoshan's eyes widen in surprise, or realization or, horror. In a moment's time, the trandoshan's body was wrapped up in a yellow burst of fire. From his chest outward, his body broke apart at the molecular level. Whisps of yellow orange flame danced around his disappearing shape. He head was the last to go. The heavy repeater clattered to the forest floor, suddenly silenced. Brine rose to his feet, now feeling a half dozen new aches and pains.

He opened his eyes. A large wookie paw had lifted Gizzk up in the air like a youngling's cuddle toy and then slammed him down on the ground. Huhunna picked the Trandoshan up again, gripping him by the neck. She roared in his face, causing his eyelid to flutter. She then proceeded to strike him in the good eye with the hilt of Jace Diran's lighsaber. Again she hit him, full wookie rage engaged. Gizzk began to squeal and thrash in a panic trying to get away. But all of Hununna's aggravation and frustration came to a boiling point and there was no one else to vent on.

Jace felt sorry for him for a second but the pain in his cheek and neck cured him of that. He dropped his head down on the ground and took deep oxygen thirsty breaths, trying not to pass out. He heard one last thud of a heavy body hitting the ground and all that remained was the heavy breathing of the Wookie, her rage subsiding

She stood at his feet as he lay on the ground. She howled and grunted with incredulous and frantic gestures with her arms. She was waving his unlit lightsaber hilt in her right hand, pointing it at him as she explained the missing med pack, the drone video, her hurried run over here.

"Huhunna … give me the …"

She raised both arms in the air, roaring.

"Calm down lady." Jace soothed as he started to stand. "Just give me the lightsaber." He held one hand out. "C'mon, we have to help the kids."

Huhunna barked stubbornly one more time and gave him the weapon. Jace's paternal instincts were starting to kick in as well. His brain was inundated with worst-case-scenarios, he couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom unless he could be there, next to her, controlling the situation and keeping her from harm. Had he really seen Leelah riding on Marrowyr's shoulders? Was that real? Another vision? Was it mental leftovers from his anxiety over Leelah being so close to the rescue? According to Huhunna, it was entirely possible that she was at least somewhere in the forest being stalked by some alien species. His thoughts turned to Elliva and how he'd have to explain to her the loss of her only daughter to the wilds of Wasska. He found it a lot harder to bury those feelings.

From behind them, Brine Deegs called out. "The kids, sir, they went into the trees o'er there." He was half limping, favoring his left leg. Blood in small trickles seeped from puncture wounds on his shoulders, neck and forearm. They decorated his clothing and his various other abrasions and bruising made Brine look like the walking dead. He was breathing steady though, and his resolve was even stronger. "You better take off, I can get the Perseverance and bring 'er to ya."

Jace and Huhunna raced down the road and launched into the forest. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Gizzk, one hand bracing his eye, the other extended out in front of him feeling for his surroundings. He limped painfully down the road in the opposite direction, groping in the darkness.


	11. Chapter 10 - Wookie Rage

Leelah was having the time of her life. Initially she was exuberant to the point of laughter, but as the escape continued, she began to sense the tension among the wookies. They bayed and growled back to another, there was confusion, anger, frustration. She couldn't speak the wookie language, but somehow she understood what they were saying.

Still, the bounding and leaping made her want to laugh out loud. Marrowyr, her new friend, ducked under a felled tree and she felt that tickling sensation in her tummy again. Then he stood up and jumped over another natural obstacle, up, up and over, and then back down to the ground. She couldn't help herself, she pulled herself closer to his head for protection, but she squeeled at the top of her lungs. The other wookies, she noticed, were jumping and swinging and they looked like they were really having fun. She wanted to run and play too, but for now she'd be okay just riding.

Somehow she new bad beings were running after her and the wookies, too. She felt it like someone was holding on to her hair and not letting go, not pulling it just holding it. She started to giggle again and returned to enjoying herself. Then her world turned upside down.

There was a loud chirping blaster sound, and then the sizzling thud of impact. Marrowyr roared in pain and spilled over. Leelah held on as much as she could until he hit the ground, she flew off, bucked by the impact. She landed face down in a patch of dirt, striking her head on a shallow tree root. For a moment she lay motionless.

Kysslyk and two other Trandoshans stepped through a wall of brush into the large clearing where the wookie, Marrowyr had fallen. His comrades stopped to help him. The pursuers hissed in their native language. Kyssylyk brandished one of his handheld blaster in front of him pointing it at the fallen wookie. He was no longer running, but stalking, drooling, breathing heavily but not because of fatigue.

Marrowyr was on hands and knees attempting to stand. The blaster shot had chewed a hole in his right leg. The other four were standing frozen in defensive postures, half bent over, wanting to assist their friend. One of the four, Raallawraa kneeled down, turned him over and supported Marrowyr from behind. Now facing his enemies, he growled defiantly, and then bade his friends to run. Tarweeleea, a female, refused and lifted her arms up and roared bearing her teeth at the Trandoshans, for which she was immediately punished with a blaster bolt in the abdomen. She doubled over, and slowly looked up, more angry than in pain.

Kyssylyk laughed, and was joined in the mocking chorus by his guards. He realized that he relished the torture and domination of his prey almost as much as the killing. He squeezed off another round into Marrowyr's shoulder. His cry was more of a shriek, than a roar, the pain was more than a wookie his age was designed to endure. Raallawraa bayed lowdly, more like a prayer. The other wookies began to huddle together in front of their wounded to protect them. They barked at their tormenters, firing roars of warning and threat, even though their eyes confessed fear.

The Trandoshans laughed and hissed louder. Kyssylyk peered behind him and traded expressions of agreement with the two. When he turned back around to face the wookies, there was another being standing in front of the group. It was a human youngling, not much taller than his lower leg. She had a bush of brown, curly hair fanning out in all directions. There was a trickle of blood dried on her forehead. Strangely, in the presence of the three enormous saurian aliens, she did not emanate fear like the rest.

Her huge brown eyes locked on to his. She stood erect, not cowering, totally relaxed. The tilted her head forward slightly, pointing her forehead at him like an accusing finger. Her youngling brow pinched in the center drawing her little face into an angry scowl. What was once young innocence had melted away to an aged and adult expression of angry disapproval. The transformation caught Kyssylyk off guard. He thought for a moment that this wasn't a youngling at all. But an adult of a different kind of species.

But in a distinctive childlike voice, clearer and more present than he'd ever heard, she said two words.

"Bad kittie."

The ground began to shake. From unseen origins, a hot wind rushed through the forest and rustled that foliage in the clearing. Her curly hair blew up like a cape and flapped in the breeze. Fallen tree trunks and branches levitated off of the ground and hung like they were being toyed with by invisible giants. Some rotated on their axis and others twirled like propellers.

Leelah's bottom lip puffed up over the top one. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she did not look sad. Both of her hands balled up in fists. The trandoshan guards reacted in confused fear, their heads darting around at the new distractions. The wookies did the same. Kyssylyk was distracted for a moment and realized that this was just pre-fight posturing. He hissed an order to guard number one to tranq the youngling. The guard stepped forward and aimed his rifle at Leelah and fired. The dart stopped two meters from her unmoving figure, floating in the hot air, motionless in the wind, and then it exploded.

The two Trandoshan guards were lifted up off of the ground like the rest of the debris in the clearing. They rose above Kyssylyk's head, squirming and thrashing against the unseen hands holding them. Before they knew what was happening, a bobbing tree trunk was shot from an unseen sling and slammed into the two floating guards, snatching them out of the air violently one after another. The tree smashed into the forest floor and the bodies of the two guards disappeared into the ground.

The two unencumbered wookies stood up and with consternation began to taunt the remaining Trandoshan. The rumbling of the terrain was increasing in intensity. Leelah's fury increased with every second. Her eyes sent a yellowish glow out to the forest. She focused on the being with the blaster pistol that had hurt her friends.

Kyssylyk's eyes were wide with unbelief, gazing rapidly at the child, the tree, and his sudden lack of support. He understood that his chances of survival were nil. He didn't want his father to arrive in the clearing and find him groveling at the feet of a human youngling or before an audience of wookie youth. No, he would die with honor; he would die in the fight, in the hunt, like the goddess would want, like his father would want.

Kyssylyk dropped all of his weapons on the floor, blasters, vibroblades, a bandoleer of detonators and ammo. The crouched in a stance ready pounce. He opened up his mouth, dropping his jaw open so far that it looked dislocated. His eyes bubbled up in fury. He hissed abrasively as he pounced, bearing claws and fangs, a forked tongue jabbing and quivering in front of him. He charged, closing the distance in mere seconds. And then as if swatted by an invisible Rancor, he was sent back, not tumbling to the ground, but in a trajectory. In a straight line he flew backwards and with a crunch, slammed into the thick trunk of a tree. There was a wet sound as his bulk slumped to the floor motionless.


	12. Chapter 11 - Force fury

Jace Diran stepped over the body of the Trandoshan that struck the tree in front of him. It definitely was the younger trandoshan. But who had dispatched him?

Earlier, Jace had honed in on the force presence of his daughter as he and Huhunna tore through the forest. But halfway through, he had to stop. There was a sickening feeling that replaced Leelah's presence; a dark flow, an anger … a fury. He continued to run, but bent over as if he had a stab wound to his stomach, the presence was so powerful. But the sight he saw in the clearing gave him a feeling that didn't compare.

Tree limbs, stones, debris of all kinds were traveling in a slow whirlwind across the clearing; flechette ammo packs and detonators, blaster pistols as well.. The trees surrounding the clearing bowed down towards the center as if unseen hands were pulling them. The floor of the clearing was vibrating, the dirt seemed to be bubbling and churning. The roar of the quaking was not like rumble of tectonic plates colliding, it was rather like a voice, deep, and in torment.

Everything orbited around like planets in a stars system, around a nucleus, a fire-like eye in the tornado. In the force it felt like a light-devouring black hole. His daughter's silhouette stood unmoved in the center, her chest heaving, like she was crying, her little hands balled up in fists. Her eyes were aglow with iridescent power. In the force, she appeared to be standing in a rift between the physical realm and the dark side of the force. She was creating, and at the same time, caught up in a nexus of force energy.

Huhunna and Jace walked on eggshells into the clearing, his eyes fixed on his daughter. He wasn't sure if she'd noticed them yet. He waved his hand at Huhunna in a 'put that thing down' gesture. She lowered her bowcaster, he clipped his lightsaber to his waist.

"Honey … sweetie …" he was holding his hands up in protective, calming posture, stepping slowly toward her. "Little one … it's me, daddy." He faked a smile. She didn't respond at all. His brow wrinkled in with concern. His hair blew to the side in the hot wind.

Huhunna saw her son and the other cowering wookies huddled behind Leelah. She called out to him and he responded with a weak moan. Raallawraa also growled out a series of informative sounds telling Huhunna of Tarweeleea's condition too. Huhunna acknowledged.

At the sound of the conversation, Leelah's dark form moved. She turned to look at her wookie friends behind her cowering and scared of her and understood the conversation with the grown up wookie on the other side of the clearing. She was trying to protect them and now she felt how scared they were. She understood that the big wookie was Marrowyr's mother, and that she was concerned about him. She then realized that the man next to the big wookie was her father. She looked back to him.

"Daddee." The glow faded from her eyes. The wind did not subside totally, just in temperature and intensity. Large objects like trees and stones fell to the ground. Small leaves and plant pieces continued to swirl until floating lightly to the floor. The ground returned to a state of calm. The fury had died down.

Before his eyes the frightening apparition of fury and dark side energy abated. Light returned to the small clearing and the toddler that was his daughter reappeared before him. She made a pain face and put her hand to her head. "Owweee. My head. Owweee. My head." She started to cautiously pick her way through the brush towards him.

His girl was back. She wore the 'kiss it and make it better' face that made his fatherly protectiveness bubble up in him. He took broad but cautious steps toward her to pick her up. Normally he would have added in an upward toss or a spin to make things fun and give her a little thrill. But this time, he scooped her up and held her in one sense like a piece of delicate glassware, and in another sense like an explosive with a hair trigger.

To her it was any other day they were together, she didn't notice the mixture of awe and fear in her father's gaze. She just needed to be soothed. She didn't see mommy any were but dad would do in a pinch. "My head, Daddee. My head."

"I know, I know, you little brown wampa cub." He kissed her head a few times while stepping out of the clearing.

Huhunna was carrying her wounded son and Raallawraa was managing Tarweeleea. He was the biggest of the youths, only a head and a half shorter than Huhunna, an apparently almost as strong. In the distance the silence was filled with the powering up of the Perseverance's engines and repulsor lifts. The survivors headed towards the sound of the ship.

Jace lead the group through the labyrinth of trees and stones. In a larger clearing ahead the silhouette of the ship came into view. He had Leelah's head pressed into his shoulder. He was silent and his eyes were distant, looking ahead, farther ahead than the clearing. He was looking ahead to the future. After he and Brine healed up. After tending to the wookie's wounds. After the clean up on Kashyyyk, when he'd have to recant his daughter's manifestation to his wife.

He'd have to tell her how Leelah digested the instructions he'd given to Huhunna over the com and was able to carry them all out, even showing the ability to improvise. She appeared in PD-3's overhead cameras to be augmenting her speed with the force. She seemed able to communicate with the younger wookies and figured out how to operate a stim syringe. And the insane force power she'd manifested in defending her wounded friends! She had more than touched the dark side, and then pushed it all away like she was flipping a switch on and off. Ellevia's words resonated in his memory … _She has her father's temper_. He remembered scenes from his vision and wondered again how much of it was literal.

Perhaps now would not be a good time to leave the Jedi Order. He'd have to bring Leelah to Master Skywalker. She'd have to be formally observed, trained, and taught how to bring herself under control. He wasn't sure if he and Ellevia could do it on their own. His little girl could be the galaxy's greatest Jedi or its greatest threat. This little Wampa cub had to be brought up right around people who could help her. The force capabilities she possessed were beyond his level of expertise. Hopefully, just being dad would prevent any further outbursts.

A standard hour later, the passengers and crew were loaded up in the hull of the Diran family's ship. The Perseverance took off from the moon's surface and headed back to Kashyyyk.

END


	13. Chapter 12 - Her Father's Temper

Jace Diran stepped over the body of the Trandoshan that struck the tree in front of him. It definitely was the younger trandoshan. But who had dispatched him?

Earlier, Jace had honed in on the force presence of his daughter as he and Huhunna tore through the forest. But halfway through, he had to stop. There was a sickening feeling that replaced Leelah's presence; a dark flow, an anger … a fury. He continued to run, but bent over as if he had a stab wound to his stomach, the presence was so powerful. But the sight he saw in the clearing gave him a feeling that didn't compare.

Tree limbs, stones, debris of all kinds were traveling in a slow whirlwind across the clearing; flechette ammo packs and detonators, blaster pistols as well.. The trees surrounding the clearing bowed down towards the center as if unseen hands were pulling them. The floor of the clearing was vibrating, the dirt seemed to be bubbling and churning. The roar of the quaking was not like rumble of tectonic plates colliding, it was rather like a voice, deep, and in torment.

Everything orbited around like planets in a stars system, around a nucleus, a fire-like eye in the tornado. In the force it felt like a light-devouring black hole. His daughter's silhouette stood unmoved in the center, her chest heaving, like she was crying, her little hands balled up in fists. Her eyes were aglow with iridescent power. In the force, she appeared to be standing in a rift between the physical realm and the dark side of the force. She was creating, and at the same time, caught up in a nexus of force energy.

Huhunna and Jace walked on eggshells into the clearing, his eyes fixed on his daughter. He wasn't sure if she'd noticed them yet. He waved his hand at Huhunna in a 'put that thing down' gesture. She lowered her bowcaster, he clipped his lightsaber to his waist.

"Honey … sweetie …" he was holding his hands up in protective, calming posture, stepping slowly toward her. "Little one … it's me, daddy." He faked a smile. She didn't respond at all. His brow wrinkled in with concern. His hair blew to the side in the hot wind.

Huhunna saw her son and the other cowering wookies huddled behind Leelah. She called out to him and he responded with a weak moan. Raallawraa also growled out a series of informative sounds telling Huhunna of Tarweeleea's condition too. Huhunna acknowledged.

At the sound of the conversation, Leelah's dark form moved. She turned to look at her wookie friends behind her cowering and scared of her and understood the conversation with the grown up wookie on the other side of the clearing. She was trying to protect them and now she felt how scared they were. She understood that the big wookie was Marrowyr's mother, and that she was concerned about him. She then realized that the man next to the big wookie was her father. She looked back to him.

"Daddee." The glow faded from her eyes. The wind did not subside totally, just in temperature and intensity. Large objects like trees and stones fell to the ground. Small leaves and plant pieces continued to swirl until floating lightly to the floor. The ground returned to a state of calm. The fury had died down.

Before his eyes the frightening apparition of fury and dark side energy abated. Light returned to the small clearing and the toddler that was his daughter reappeared before him. She made a pain face and put her hand to her head. "Owweee. My head. Owweee. My head." She started to cautiously pick her way through the brush towards him.

His girl was back. She wore the 'kiss it and make it better' face that made his fatherly protectiveness bubble up in him. He took broad but cautious steps toward her to pick her up. Normally he would have added in an upward toss or a spin to make things fun and give her a little thrill. But this time, he scooped her up and held her in one sense like a piece of delicate glassware, and in another sense like an explosive with a hair trigger.

To her it was any other day they were together, she didn't notice the mixture of awe and fear in her father's gaze. She just needed to be soothed. She didn't see mommy any were but dad would do in a pinch. "My head, Daddee. My head."

"I know, I know, you little brown wampa cub." He kissed her head a few times while stepping out of the clearing.

Huhunna was carrying her wounded son and Raallawraa was managing Tarweeleea. He was the biggest of the youths, only a head and a half shorter than Huhunna, an apparently almost as strong. In the distance the silence was filled with the powering up of the Perseverance's engines and repulsor lifts. The survivors headed towards the sound of the ship.

Jace lead the group through the labyrinth of trees and stones. In a larger clearing ahead the silhouette of the ship came into view. He had Leelah's head pressed into his shoulder. He was silent and his eyes were distant, looking ahead, farther ahead than the clearing. He was looking ahead to the future. After he and Brine healed up. After tending to the wookie's wounds. After the clean up on Kashyyyk, when he'd have to recant his daughter's manifestation to his wife.

He'd have to tell her how Leelah digested the instructions he'd given to Huhunna over the com and was able to carry them all out, even showing the ability to improvise. She appeared in PD-3's overhead cameras to be augmenting her speed with the force. She seemed able to communicate with the younger wookies and figured out how to operate a stim syringe. And the insane force power she'd manifested in defending her wounded friends! She had more than touched the dark side, and then pushed it all away like she was flipping a switch on and off. Ellevia's words resonated in his memory … _She has her father's temper_. He remembered scenes from his vision and wondered again how much of it was literal.

Perhaps now would not be a good time to leave the Jedi Order. He'd have to bring Leelah to Master Skywalker. She'd have to be formally observed, trained, and taught how to bring herself under control. He wasn't sure if he and Ellevia could do it on their own. His little girl could be the galaxy's greatest Jedi or its greatest threat. This little Wampa cub had to be brought up right around people who could help her. The force capabilities she possessed were beyond his level of expertise. Hopefully, just being dad would prevent any further outbursts.

A standard hour later, the passengers and crew were loaded up in the hull of the Diran family's ship. The Perseverance took off from the moon's surface and headed back to Kashyyyk.

END


End file.
